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Manchester United dump manager David Moyes

ELIZABETH JACKSON: If you needed any proof that international sport is a ruthless place ruled by big business, then witness the fate of David Moyes.

After just 10 months as manager of Manchester United, he's been booted out after a calamitous season that still has four weeks to run.

The club's American owners, the Glazer family, have sacked Moyes in large part to stem the massive financial hit the Premier League club has taken as a result of its poor form on the pitch, but many say the sacking was poor form in itself.

Our Europe correspondent Mary Gearin reports from London.

MARY GEARIN: David Moyes was the anointed one. Sir Alex Ferguson handpicked his successor just a few months ago, telling fans:

ALEX FERGUSON: Your job now is to stand by our new manager.

MARY GEARIN: But Moyes barely had time to break in, let alone fill, those legendary shoes.

Under his helm, United's season has been disastrous.

The club that's been the world's greatest sporting brand is about to record its lowest ever points tally in the Premier League, and crucially, has failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 19 years.

That's said to have cost the club more than $40 million in lost sponsorship and TV revenues.

Former England captain Gary Lineker predicts tough times at Old Trafford.

GARY LINEKER: Oh there's no question Manchester United's a club in crisis. They've not qualified for the Champions League; they've lost a manager just before the transfer window starts. They're in a worst situation than they were 12 months ago.

MARY GEARIN: Add to that a massive debt of almost $700 million, plus another 130 million per year in interest.

While some fans were torn about the sacking:

MANCHESTER UNITED FAN: Get a new manager in now and let's get back to where we belong, which is the top of the league.

MANCHESTER UNITED FAN II: I think it's a shame; I think he could have done with a bit more time.

MARY GEARIN: Former player Garth Crooks didn't pull punches.

GARTH CROOKS: David 'Poor' Moyes has been fed to the wolves.

MARY GEARIN: The sacking taps into the bitter feelings many supporters still have about the Glazers' hostile takeover of the club in 2005.

It threw the club into debt and prompted noisy protests in the stands.

Christian Purslow, a former managing director of Liverpool, said this sacking could reignite the issue.

CHRISTIAN PURSLOW: Sir Alex Ferguson was so successful in bringing trophies that really that never gained much momentum, now the focus is right back on the owners.

They allowed a management decision to be made last year in terms of David Moyes. It hasn't worked and they're right under the spotlight.

MARY GEARIN: BBC commentator Phil Parry says Moyes is paying the price for a management in flux, a bungled approach to securing new players and a change in the trademark United style on field.

PHIL PARRY: I think it's just the modern way, and the globalisation of football has lead to a decision to be made about the managerial status.

MARY GEARIN: David Moyes has become United's shortest serving permanent manager for almost 90 years; he found out about his fate online. Is the manner of his sacking and the brevity of his tenure, does that mark a culture change for the club and for football itself?

PHIL PARRY: I think there's definitely been a sea change hasn't there. Within football, I think at that level, the business of the sport has had a greater influence over sometimes the sport itself.

MARY GEARIN: While midfielder Ryan Giggs will take the reins as player-manager for now, the bookies' frontrunner is Louis van Gaal, the Netherlands manager.

One thing's certain, the next anointed one - and the club - will be under a rare kind of pressure.

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